Just Fine
by dwparsnip
Summary: McKay wonders if Jennifer remembers the first time they met, so he asks her. Written for the Unwavering McKeller LJ Community challenge.


Okay, here's a little McKeller fluff, written for a little challenge at the Unwavering LJ Community which was: 'Objective: The very first meeting between the characters of Rodney McKay and Jennifer Keller. This can happen anyway you want it to, anywhere you would like it to.'

I don't own any of the following: Stargate Atlantis or any of its characters, MGM do I would assume; 'Barbie' is a registered trademark of Mattel; and just in case, Band-Aid (though I use it in the generic sense) is a registered trademark of Johnson and Johnson.

References to the Stargate Atlantis episodes "Critical Mass", "McKay and Mrs. Miller" and "Trio" contained within.

I didn't want to bother my regular beta (I've bugged her enough lately) so I'd like to give a thousand thanks to NoDoubtFan who stepped in and did the beta thing for me this time.

Any and all comments are welcome, and thanks for reading.

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Dr. Jennifer Keller stood in front of her desk with her back to her office door, concentrating on reading through the latest report from the SGC concerning the cell samples she had sent them weeks earlier for testing. It wasn't a particularly important test, just one that she wanted the results for out of personal interest, and halfway through reading the results her curiosity only increased. She was so fascinated with the report that she nearly jumped out of her skin when a voice broke her concentration.

"Do you remember the first time we met?"

She actually did jump a little, and she very nearly dropped the tablet she had in her hands. She did a quick self-examination: her pulse was going faster than the proverbial speeding bullet; the slight warmth she felt in her cheeks was indicative of the shot of adrenaline that her body released; and her chest was heaving slightly in an attempt to bring enough oxygen into her body to keep up with her rapidly beating heart. It all added up to one thing of course: Rodney had scared the hell out of her.

When she finally turned around to face him a moment later she found a mortified look on his face and about as much redness in his cheeks as was probably in hers.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to…I knocked so I assumed…" He sighed and said sincerely in that cute little Canadian way that always seemed to amuse Colonel Carter, "Sorry."

Jennifer let loose a little laugh and motioned with her right hand for him to come on in. "It's okay, Rodney." She held up the tablet for him to see. "I was just so caught up in this that I didn't hear you." She lowered the device and turned around enough to lay it on her desk, and then turned back to face Rodney.

Rodney's eyes lit up and he advanced upon her as if she held the secret to the meaning of life.

And when he asked excitedly, "Is that the cell regeneration results?" as he reached past her to snatch up the tablet off her desk and then move back to the center of her office, she couldn't help but groan in frustration.

"Why didn't you tell me you received this?" he said as he flew through the pages of results. "I've been waiting to see if that device has any healing properties." He found something that piqued his interest and he stopped scrolling through the pages to really read them.

Jennifer gave him a moment to satisfy his curiosity, after all it was only a short time ago she was as excited about getting them as he was now, and to watch him. He stood there with the tablet in his left hand, and he was hunched over slightly as he read from it. His right hand was raised to his chin, where his index finger slowly tapped against his bottom lip as he absorbed the data.

Other than that he was the same Rodney McKay that she saw everyday, although when he was standing in her doorway he seemed a little timid, which was slightly unusual.

And hadn't he asked her a question?

Her eyes narrowed for a moment in thought. What had he asked? "Rodney?" She couldn't help but smirk when the only response she got was a grunt.

She cleared her throat and tried again a little louder. "Rodney?"

His right hand shot out and he held up his index finger in the universal hold on a minute pose.

Enough was enough. Jennifer hid her smile as she walked over to the enthralled scientist, placed her right hand on his left arm just above his elbow and leaned in close enough so that she could whisper sweetly in his ear.

"Rodney?"

He looked up and turned towards her, and she could tell by the rapid bobbing of his Adam's apple that she managed to get his attention.

He glanced back down at the screen for an instant, and Jennifer retaliated by covering the tablet's screen with her left hand.

Rodney simply looked at her, and she took his silence to mean that he, like her, could wait until later to study the test results. Keeping her eyes focused on his, she moved her hand along the screen towards her and slid her hand over his, eliciting another gulp from him. Her hand went underneath the tablet and she lifted it out of his hands.

With a smile, and only breaking eye contact with him long enough to verify the distance from their position to the couch, she tossed the distracting piece of technology onto the couch.

"Nice throw," he commented without actually watching the event in question.

"Thanks," she replied automatically. She let her hand drop and then folded her hands together in front of her. "What can I do for you?" She looked at him suspiciously. "You're not cancelling dinner are you?"

That seemed to shake him out of the stupor he'd been in since she whispered in his ear. "What? Dinner?" He shook his head rather emphatically. "No, I'm not cancelling dinner. Ha! The prospect of dinner with you is the only thing that's been getting me through the day."

Rodney's eyes opened wide and he did his best impression of a fish trying to breath out of water when he realized what he'd said. It wasn't that it wasn't true- it was- but he seemed to have an irrational fear of saying something inappropriate, which always amused her because what he said usually wasn't inappropriate at all. Most times it was sweet and adorable, in a Rodney-esque sort of way of course.

"Me too," she said reassuringly. She raised an eyebrow at him. "So…?"

He seemed to think for a moment as though he himself had forgotten. After a moment he nodded.

"Yes, I had something to ask you." He looked to the couch, then put his left hand in the middle of her back and guided her towards it.

She turned and looked at him as she eased herself down on her couch next to her abandoned tablet. She crossed her legs and got comfortable, preparing herself for a lengthy and perhaps trying time. She couldn't remember the last time he'd asked her to sit in such a fashion.

He stepped back and looked down at her, and then clasped his hands together behind his back. He remained there silent for nearly a minute until he took a quick breath and asked in a rush, "Do you remember the first time we met?"

The question, the way it was delivered so quickly as well as the question itself, caught her off guard, but what made her brow wrinkle in surprise and confusion was the look on his face, a look like he wasn't sure if he even had a right to ask.

"The first time we met?" she asked as she folded her hands together and rested them on her lap. "Rodney, why do you…"

"You don't remember, do you?" he said as his shoulders drooped in disappointment. The easy to hear hurt in his voice only served to deepen her confusion.

"Rodney," she said gently when a thought came to her and she leaned forward to look at him suspiciously. "Are you asking because you don't remember?"

Rodney's eyes bulged open and he shook his head in a rather emphatic no. "I do!" he exclaimed loudly and with a wave of his hands for emphasis, and he realized the sound was too loud for an infirmary as he looked out her office door to see if he had disturbed anyone or drawn attention to himself. Satisfied he hadn't, he moved to the couch and sat down beside her. He looked straight ahead and in a more normal tone and volume of voice he said, "I do. It's just…"

Jennifer turned on the couch toward him, bringing her left leg up onto the couch so that her foot hung out over the couch enough to hook her right leg over it and set her foot upon the floor. Her left arm she rested upon the back of the couch, bending her elbow so that her fist rested against her cheek, thereby supporting her head. She waited for a few seconds for him to go on, and then prodded when he didn't, "It's just…what?

Rodney didn't look at her, leaning back in the couch instead and continuing to look at some distant spot on the wall facing them. He sighed and she started to worry. He seemed even more at odds with himself than usual.

"I overheard a couple of my female underlings talking," he explained. "They didn't know I was right behind them, or they would have been working on the very important experiment I assigned to them. I mean really, if they're in the lab…" He stopped as he realized that he'd gone off topic and sighed. "Anyway, one was telling the other about the very first meeting between her and her fiancé. They met on a beach somewhere and he helped her with…well, that's not important. Needless to say it was sweet and romantic and whatnot." He glanced at her and then his eyes shifted to the floor. "I remember when we first met," he said, and he looked up to her and his blue eyes found her brown ones. "I started to remember the first time we met, and I think it's safe to say that it was neither sweet nor romantic. Do you remember?"

"Of course I do, Rodney," she said with a sigh of relief, as she half expected it to be something much more serious- he really was too adorable sometimes. She reached over with her right hand and covered his as it lay on his lap. "I remember most vividly. After all," she added with a reminiscent smile, "it isn't everyday someone calls me an under qualified Barbie doctor wannabe…"

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She had only been on Atlantis for a few days, and except for Dr. Weir and the Infirmary staff and the personnel who made the trip from Earth with her to the city of the Ancients, she knew virtually no one else. Carson had been very friendly and it took only five minutes of talking to him to see that he would definitely be a pleasure to work for. Still, she was understandably (in her mind at least) surprised when he left her in charge when he went for an overnight visit to M7G-677 to visit the kids…the "wee ones" he called them, saying that it was the perfect opportunity for her to get her feet wet.

He'd only been gone an hour when it happened. She was consulting with one of the other doctors about Major Lorne's stubborn flare up of Athlete's Foot when a voice, loud and apparently extremely angry, shattered the peace that up to that point had graced the Infirmary.

She couldn't place the voice which meant that she hadn't met the man, but the look on the other doctor's face said that he knew who it was, and he didn't seem at all enthused at his imminent arrival.

Jennifer signed off on the treatment change for Lorne's problem and braced herself for the worst when the other doctor scurried out of the room at full speed.

Only a moment later Dr. Weir, an obviously forced smile on her face, entered the room dragging behind her a man wearing a standard Atlantis uniform with a Canadian flag patch on his left arm.

Jennifer managed to stifle a groan and pasted a smile on her face. She had been warned of course by every single Infirmary staff member about Rodney McKay, resident super genius and all round pain in the ass. In her short stay on Atlantis she had been regaled time and again by Carson and the staff about the antics of McKay and his team, and antics was the right word for it for sure. Whenever a certain Infirmary procedure was described to her that seemed a little unconventional or extreme, the reason for the procedure's existence was placed squarely on the doorstep of McKay and his team. If she believed everyone she'd talked to, she should consider herself very lucky to have gone so long without receiving a visit from any of them.

Especially McKay.

Elizabeth's smile turned genuine when she saw her, and for a brief moment Jennifer thought she saw regret and pity in her eyes. She had managed to develop a rapport with the leader of the Atlantis Expedition, having had the good fortune to be able to sit with her in the Mess several times over the last few days. Elizabeth Weir was personable and very kindhearted from what she'd seen so far, and she couldn't help but like the older woman.

Jennifer stood there and watched as Elizabeth walked past her with McKay in tow towards one of the beds. When they reached it, Elizabeth simply pointed at it, and after a moment where it seemed he was going to argue, he obediently sat up on the bed and muttered something under his breath.

Elizabeth gave him a stern look of warning and then walked over to Jennifer.

"Dr. Keller," she said warmly…almost apologetically. "Could you please take a look at Dr. McKay's hand?"

"Cer..." she tried, but it came out as a squeak. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Certainly."

The two women walked over to the bed where McKay was still mumbling, though he had enough common sense to stop once they were close enough to actually understand what he was saying.

"Dr. Rodney McKay," said Elizabeth. "May I introduce Dr…"

"Yes, yes," interrupted McKay with a dismissive wave of his right hand. He fixed Jennifer with a look of undisguised sufferance. "I'm sure it's a wonderful name she has and that she likes it very much. How about we skip the pointless formalities and pay closer attention to, oh I don't know, the reason I've been dragged here against my will?"

"Of course, Dr. McKay," she said with an innocent voice. Medical school may have taught her how to deal with symptoms and injuries, but it was her extensive hands on experience that taught her that the only way to deal with pompous egomaniacs like McKay was to baby them, or sedate them. "What seems to be the trouble today?" she asked, deciding on approach number one. If push came to shove she could always abort and switch to approach number two.

Rodney sighed and looked up to Elizabeth as if to say 'This is your fault', and then to the ceiling as though looking for some divine intervention or guidance. After finding absolutely no help from Elizabeth or above, he lowered his gaze to hers and said, "I would think it would be obvious."

Jennifer, her smile still firmly in place, raised her eyebrows at him and waited.

After a moment Rodney sighed and rolled his eyes and then, with great flourish, held up his left hand in the air between them.

The smile disappeared from Jennifer's face as she quickly closed the gap between them and took his bandaged hand in hers. A quick evaluation told her that at least two twelve foot rolls of two inch wide gauze covered his hand. Her first instinct told her that this was serious and her heart began to beat a little bit faster, but then she remembered who she was dealing with.

Still holding his hand in hers Jennifer looked from the blob of white bandage, which was so big and bright white that she had no idea how she could have missed it when he walked in, to Rodney's face, which she was annoyed to see was looking at her like she was a twit.

"What happened?" she asked, genuine concern lacing her voice.

"I don't think that's important…"

"Doctor McKay," she said, allowing some authority and sternness into her voice for the first time since she entered the room, "knowing how it happened and what caused it will help me to deal with the problem." She found the end of the gauze and began to carefully unroll it.

McKay humphed but said nothing. After another moment Elizabeth spoke. "He was in his lab this morning lab examining a piece of Ancient technology that was found in one of the lower labs."

"It's fascinating if what we suspect about the nature of the device is true," piped in McKay excitedly. "It may very well…"

"Doctor McKay," she interrupted as quickly as she could. She only had about a quarter of the gauze unrolled up to that point, but even then she could see a small stain of red coming through the remaining bandage.

"Naturally," said Rodney contritely. "Anyway, I was moving the artifact across the desk when it slipped from my hands. It was very heavy for its size, eight kilos- almost eighteen pounds for you- and my hand slid across the desk and the artifact fell on the top of my hand. It's cube shaped and one of the corners cut my hand. I used the gauze from the emergency first-aid kit we had in the lab to wrap it up."

By the time he had finished, she had his hand freed from its temporary prison of medical wrapping and had leaned in closer to examine his wound.

"Well," he demanded impatiently, "is it going to require stitches because I'm not particularly fond of pointy…"

Jennifer straightened up and with a straight face, "That must be painful."

"What? Well, yes."

"Just a second, Doctor," she said as she stepped over the pool of gauze at her feet and headed for the cabinet on the other side of the room. "Just let me get what I need to fix you up."

"Fix me…oh, yes. I'll wait right here." Rodney watched her curiously, and as she placed object after object on the table next to the cabinet he became more and more worried. A sterile wound cleaning kit, a syringe, a stitching kit, a vial of morphine…morphine? "Is it that serious?" he asked worriedly.

"Here we go," she announced without answering him. She turned around and walked back towards him. When she reached him she placed the cleaning kit on the bed beside him and opened it up. After pouring some mild saline solution into the bowl that came in the kit, she dabbed a sterile gauze pad in liquid and began leaning around his wound.

Once the area was clear she examined the cut again. Placing his hand gently on his lap, she went back to the table across the way and retrieved another two items and then walked back to his bed. She held up the items in the air between them. "This will take care of it."

Rodney's eyes were as wide as saucers. "You can't be serious! I'm in incredible pain here with a gash in my hand and you're using a…a…a…"

"Butterfly stitch and band aid," she finished for him.

"I can't believe she's the best we could find, Elizabeth," said Rodney exasperatedly. "I mean really, I'm sitting here in severe pain with this," he held up his hand for Elizabeth to see, "cut on my hand that has to be at least three inches long and this…this… under qualified Barbie doctor wannabe wants to use a band aid to cover it!"

Jennifer sighed and looked to Weir. "As I was about to explain, not all cuts require invasive sutures." She took a hold of his hand and held it up for Elizabeth to see. "Especially a cut that is approximately three quarters of an inch long," she turned to McKay and said with a smirk, "almost two centimeters for you." She failed miserably at holding in a grin. "And you just said you're not particularly fond of pointy…"

Rodney yanked his hand from hers. "How dare you…"

"Rodney," said Elizabeth in a voice that even Jennifer, as new as she was to Atlantis, knew meant for him to shut up and be good.

Rodney slammed his mouth shut and held out his hand.

Jennifer, the consummate professional that she was, gently pressed the wound together and applied the stitch, being careful not to press too hard and elicit more complaining from her patient. "I'm using this type of suture," she said, for some reason feeling the need to explain, "because of the relatively small size of the wound and the fact that it has stopped bleeding." She reached down beside him to reclaim the bandage she had placed there. "This bandage," she added, "will help protect it and keep it clean. Unless it gets wet or dirty, it should do for a couple of days and then you may need it changed."

When she was done Rodney jumped off the table and bolted for the door without a word, that is until Elizabeth called out to him and motioned to Keller with her head when he turned to see what she wanted.

Rodney sighed and turned to face Jennifer. "Thank you."

He turned and looked to Elizabeth, who shook her head in amusement and waved him on.

"Don't take it personally, Jennifer," said Elizabeth kindly as Rodney walked away. "He wanted to wait until Carson came back but I wouldn't hear tell of it, which only added to his already foul mood." She sighed and sat down in a chair that was stationed next to the bed. "He doesn't have many friends," she said quietly, "and very few good friends who he trusts. Carson happens to be one of those few."

Elizabeth leaned forward and looked at Jennifer intently. "He can be obnoxious, rude and demanding, but for all of that there is no one else who can do some of the things that have been done in Atlantis. And if you're lucky enough, as I am, to be one his friends there is no one who will do more for you if you need help. He may complain about it, he may even threaten you over it, but he will do his best, and that's pretty good." She smiled and added, "I know first impressions can last a long time and can sometimes determine how you think of and treat a person, but they are usually not a true snapshot of what a person is all about." Elizabeth stood up and looked at the young doctor. "Don't write him off because of this, or the stories floating around. He really is a good person. He just needs more of a chance than most people to prove it." Elizabeth laughed softly. "And if it makes you feel any better at all, you handled him like a pro."

"Thank you, Dr. Weir," said Jennifer with a grateful smile. "I will try to be," she paused as she searched her brain for the right word, "tolerant."

Elizabeth smiled and gave Jennifer a nod before turning around to follow her head scientist out of the infirmary.

"_Well,"_ Jennifer thought to herself as she began tidying up. _"Looks like there's a third approach after all- give them as good as they give you."_

She'd have to remember to thank McKay someday.

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Rodney was eerily silent until he said, "Yeah, that's pretty much how I remember it. I was even more of a jerk than usual."

"That would be one way of putting it, yes," Jennifer said truthfully. But she had been true to her word to Dr. Weir and given Rodney a chance to be a friend, and because of it she found something incredible in what many would call the most unlikely of places. She never did tell Rodney what Elizabeth told her after he'd left, and she probably never would. Either way, she would be eternally grateful to Elizabeth for that little talk. Jennifer tapped his hand with hers playfully. "But I have to admit, it was one of the most memorable first meetings I've ever had with anyone."

"Ha, ha," said McKay sarcastically. "I see you've been taking lessons from Sheppard in the art of comedic delivery."

Jennifer smiled and moved her left hand over to touch his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he said with a sigh. He edged forward to the edge of the couch and then turned his body so that he faced her. "You certainly didn't deserve it," he said with a melancholy sincerity that made her want to just reach over and grab him in a bear hug.

Instead she leaned forward enough to reach over with her right hand and tilt his head up to look at her by applying pressure underneath his chin with her index finger. "There's no need to apologize, Rodney. Even now I wouldn't change a thing about it if I could, because that's who you are, and I wouldn't change who you are for anything." She stopped for a moment and thought about the wisdom Elizabeth had departed to her on that day. "First meetings aren't really the important ones as far as I'm concerned. Someone once told me that first impressions are usually not a true snapshot of what a person is all about." She smiled as she lowered her hand down and caressed the back of his hand as it lay on his lap. "What's important is what you do after, and believe me, you've been doing just fine."

The corners of his mouth began to move upward in the beginnings of a smile, but stopped at the halfway point and then drooped downward into a frown. "You're just saying that aren't you?"

She smiled and shook her head slowly. It was truly amazing how one of the smartest men in two galaxies could be so insecure about their relationship. "No, I'm not." She raised his left hand up for a closer inspection. If she looked really hard, she could see a very small and very faint scar. It was so tiny that only she and Rodney would have known where and what it was.

"I really didn't think it would leave a scar," he said with an adorable pout.

Jennifer laughed and looked into his blue eyes. "Remember what I said after the mine incident, Rodney," she said with a suggestive tilt of her head. "Chicks dig scars."

Rodney smiled at that and nodded quickly. "Yes, well, remember what I said after that?"

She did as a matter of fact. He said, _"Not the chicks I dig."_

"I was wrong," he said as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"See what I mean, Rodney," she whispered as she leaned over to kiss him, "you're doing just fine."


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